This month, through our #LoveWarwickUni activities, we’re spreading the word about how donations to Warwick are making a difference. Find out more about some of the people who’ve benefited...

Helping families through research

Professor Sioban Quenby, from Warwick Medical School, is a world leading fertility expert. Donations support her research into recurrent miscarriages and infertility, helping women give birth to healthy babies. Here is one story from a family helped by donations to Warwick:

Our GP referred us to Professor Quenby after we had suffered recurrent early miscarriages. We kept getting pregnant, but each time our baby would not survive past week six. This had a devastating effect on our lives, putting a strain on our relationship and making normal day to day living virtually impossible. Initially we could not find a cause for these recurrent miscarriages which only added to the sense of loss and frustration.

Professor Quenby embarked on a series of tests and after becoming pregnant in February 2012 my wife was prescribed progesterone to be used twice daily until the end of the first trimester. As the six week scan approached we were both extremely apprehensive, as we’d never seen a heartbeat from any of our lost pregnancies, but we hoped that the treatment would work. To our delight, amazement and ultimately tears of joy we saw our little baby’s heartbeat for the first time.

Each stage of the pregnancy came and went without further incident and I am delighted to report that the little heartbeat we saw on that wonderful day grew stronger and stronger. Our daughter was born weighing 7lbs 9oz on 1 November 2012. Through the same treatment my wife and I had our second successful pregnancy and our son was born on 24th November 2014 [both pictured].

We consider ourselves extremely lucky to have been under the care of Professor Quenby. On behalf of myself and my beautiful family I want to say thank you for all the time, effort, expertise and lateral thinking you have displayed, finding answers when most found only questions. We’ll never be able to show how grateful we are."

Changing lives through scholarships

Thanks to donations we currently fund 129 undergraduate and 17 postgraduate scholars, through a number of different programmes including Benefactors and the Multicultural Scholars’ programme (MSP).

Marlie Cummings, one of our Benefactors' Scholars told us more about why her scholarship has been so important:

I feel incredibly lucky to receive such a prestigious scholarship from the University; it inspires me to make the most of my time here and take full advantage of everything Warwick has to offer. It will be a great help to me, as the financial implications of studying at university can be rather daunting.

Being a scholarship recipient has made a huge difference to my first year at Warwick, and knowing that I have the support of a donor has given me extra motivation to do the best that I can and make the most of all the opportunities available to me. I look forward to achieving the goals I have set for myself, and I am excited to see what new experiences my second year will bring."

Sparking imaginations through outreach

Explosions and slime is just the sort of chemistry kids love! The Chemistry outreach programme is not just about getting more children interested in science, it's about having fun, building confidence and providing new opportunities.

The programme, for both primary and secondary schools, is coordinated by Warwick's own enthusiastic chemist, Nick Barker, along with academic staff, researchers and PhD students.

The programme visits local schools and hosts visits to campus. In fact, it’s the only programme we know that invites children into the university teaching laboratories.

Many of the children attending have never visited a campus or even thought about university. Many have little confidence at the start of the session, thinking chemistry is too hard, but the transformational effect of these sessions is incredible. Often it's hard to get the children to leave!

Nick adds:

Within no time at all, we see pupils from all backgrounds doing really technical things with skill and confidence. Putting people out of their comfort zones, making them face a really technically challenging task and struggle with it for a while before succeeding is such a healthy experience for anyone. It often leaves them thinking better of themselves and their abilities.

Nearly 1200 children worked for a day in our labs last year and I have been privileged to see some wonderful things, such as children realising they’re good at science after all! Donations help us bring young people to a truer realisation of their abilities, and of the beauty and relevance of science."

Get involved

You can get involved in #LoveWarwickUni and support projects like the above by:

• Texting LUVW50 £2 to 70070 to make a donation of £2.
• Tweeting the reasons you #LoveWarwickUni
• Taking part in our #LoveWarwickUni Bake Off competition on Friday 13 February

For more information on our fundraising projects, please visit www.warwick.ac.uk/giving